Masato: the Academe years
by heavyneos
Summary: Masato's life as an academe student in the leaf village
1. Chapter 1

My name is Nakashima Masato but it was not always, you see I died, it wasn't quick and it wasn't clean but I died all the same, people will tell you that death is easy it's like falling asleep, well that I suppose depends on the manner of your death, I was an unemployed and unhappy man, I had dedicated my life to rugby a hard contact sport that demanded high pain threshold and high amounts of strength and endurance, but one spiteful dick was all it took to shatter my dreams and my knee.

After that I slipped into a deep depression, I didn't leave my house for a year and fell out of contact with my friends it took a major shock to my system to get me moving again, but it came too late, one day when I went to sign on with the dole I was hit by a truck that ran a red light, but I didn't die then and there, it took me a week to die, I had to listen to my family cry and prey before I went, but it wasn't what I had expected.

I had expected beautiful red headed women riding on winged stallions taking me to the next life over the rainbow bridge to Asguard, where I would eat drink and fight until Ragnarok, but no, no I had to wake up in as a freaking baby outside an orphanage in a freaking pick nick hamper, I cried allot in the first few months morning my old life my parents, sisters and a name I would never use again, and then I had to find out first hand just how traumatising it is to have no control of your bowls or bladder, and just how much 'fun' it is to learn how to walk again, oh how I wanted to jam that stuffed rabbit up that nurse's arse after the thirty ninth game of bloody peek-a-boo, and the one thing I hated more than all of that combined was the feeling of utter helplessness.

About the only thing fun was when my vocal cords where strong enough to support my speech and I could swear to my heart's content and get away with it, the blame firmly put on the janitor, which wasn't really untrue the man swore more than an inebriated sailor.

The orphanage itself was a large wooden building around two storeys tall with a large clock tower that almost reached three; it was surrounded by a thick and tall forest with two dirt paths leading away from the front and the back, the front one I assume leads to a town the back one, I have no idea.

The language wasn't too hard to learn, but it did take me slightly longer than other children in my age group, and gave the wardens who ran the orphanage the impression that I was a little slow, that wasn't fun, but the head warden is o.k. though, a real laid back kind of dude, the man reminded me of 90s movie stoners, and he was really helpful with my learning difficulties, and I could use all the help I could get, dyslexia sucks when learning a new language, reading and writing where difficult and it still takes me a bit to read a document.

But the impression I got off the nurses and wardens in the orphanage was that the world I now inhabited was a mix of ancient Japanese with a dash of modern technology thrown in for flavour, it wasn't until I hit five I found out that the world I was in was far, far more different than my own, and any I thought it could be, it was also where my future was planed out.

We were lead out as a group all twenty of us with in my age group, it was the first time any of us had been out of the orphanage front gate, and it in and of itself was an experience especially when you're used to tarmac streets and paved walkways in the UK, the road if you could call it that was almost perfectly smooth, the path lead us out of the thick trees and into a town, the buildings where made of wood and painted white with the roofs painted a verity of colours but mostly reds and yellows and blue.

I began to get a sinking sensation in my gut, I recognised these types of buildings but I couldn't quite put my finger on it, the style seemed to tickle something in the back of my mind, I contemplated this as we were lead father and father into the town it was a sudden gasp that broke my contemplations.

I looked to the source of the noise it was Sato Aiko, she was a brunette with blue eyes and her face as covered in freckles her hair as tied back into a braded ponytail, and she wore pail mint green dungarees, a pink t-shirt and plain brown sandals.

I followed her line of sight and gasped myself, my brain shutdown then rebooted but still I couldn't believe what I was seeing, there on perhaps the largest mountain I have ever seen in person were four carved faces, four intricately carved faces, faces that I recognised almost instantly

"Thunder and Fire" I mumbled

"The first, second, third and fourth Hokages" said the Warden "you'll learn about them at the academy in about two years"

He said leading us towards the cliffs to two buildings, one looked like a bowling pin with a blue roof and the other was a red building with a yellow roof and the symbol of fire written on it, it was surrounded by large wooden walls and buildings, as we approached I could see teams of people young teens and adults going into the red building some with flak jackets and some without.

We were lead up several long flights of stairs and up to an office, the secretary let us in and there sat one Shimura Danzo, his arm bandaged and his left eye covered but don't be fooled, he was probably one of if not THE most dangerous men in the village, he was filling in some papers in silence.

"Danzo-sama" said the Warden as he bowed

"Ah Hiroshi-kun" he looked up to the warden "these must be our new hopeful initiates"

"Yes Danzo-sama" he smiled I had a very sudden urge to run

"They don't seem like much" I didn't know whether to be insulted or relieved, he had us form two lines in front of his desk, he pointed to one of us "you" he said very seriously "what is the job of a shinobi"

"To save princesses?" Danzo didn't say anything he just pointed to another of us

"To defend the innocent" again he said nothing and then he came to me

"What is the job of a shinobi?"I looked up at him then I froze, for a second I saw a twinkle come from his bandaged eye, then my mouth moved and I found myself saying

"To, to do what is necessary to complete the mission" he lingered for a moment before moving on, he asked everyone the question then sat behind his desk, I was terrified I didn't want to be a ROOT robot.

"I am presently surprised Hiroshi" he said as he filled in a document and handed it to the man "you have my approval to send these children to the academe" he smiled slightly and it looked wrong on his face very wrong, that urge to run began to creep into my legs "pending the medical examinations of course"

"Of course Danzo-sama" he bowed again before he ushered us out of the office, I was shaking like a leaf after we left, my legs were almost unable to keep me standing and I leaned against the wall for a moment until I got myself together again.

"You impressed Danzo-sama today Misato-chan" I could see the pride radiating off the warden

"I, I did" I looked up at the man who was smiling his white hair was shimmering in the light from the window, I felt unclean horrified and somehow amongst all that pleased

"Yes you did" he put a hand on my shoulder "you will make a splendid ninja"

It was a few days after that, that we were given our medical examination, immunisations and our bloodline cheques, as orphans we don't know if we are clan bastards or not so they run a check to make sure, it was fairly uneventful, eyesight, reflexes and such where checked and our files were given to our head warden, then two of us were sent away one to the Inuzuka dog clan and the other to the Akimichi giant clan, and a week after that training began, for me anyway I had made the decision that if I was going to be a ninja I would be the best that I could be.

I spent the first two months going over the training I used in rugby, but mostly endurance, running the line, long distance jogging, press-ups, sit-ups, crunches, star jumps and pull-ups. I knew in all probability I would have average Chakra reserves so I made the decision to concentrate on my physical body and worry about the spiritual later.

I knew the bare basics of boxing, judo and pro wrestling but it had been years since I was in a full on fight and that was more of a brawl than any show of technique.

It wasn't until a month later once I started using a cut log to train with that the wardens took notice, I had grown four inches across my shoulders and two in height making me the largest in my age group, they also noticed that I hardly played with the other kids, I trained more often than not, it was another two months before they noticed how much stronger I was, there was an incident and I lost my temper that's all I'm going to say on that, I had moved up to two logs after my punishment ended and had been training with them for a about week when I was called into the head wardens office.

"Misato-chan" he smiled "I see you're training allot"

"Yeah" I said "I want to be the best ninja I can be"

"Misato-chan you have years before you need to worry about that" he assured me "you're not even in the academe yet"

"I know but there will be people at the academe that will have an advantage" I said looking him in the eyes, he seemed a little surprised "most of the kids there will have family that were ninja and others will have Clan members that are ninja and have generations of technique to fall back on" now he was intrigued I could see his left eyebrow twitch slightly "an advantage that they will press to the utmost " I run a hand through my hair then scratched the back of my head "so I figured if I started early and trained hard I could out muscle almost any advantage they would have" he smiled at me "well at least some anyway"

He said nothing to me he just looked at me for what seemed like minuets, he looked like he was calculating something before he smiled at me,

"Then I will give you all the help I can" I looked him dead in the eye "but you have to put in a hundred percent"

"Are you going to train me?" I asked his smile seemed to split his face for a moment and I had a sudden shudder of fear crawl up my spine.

(Time skip)

It had been a difficult two years, endurance and strength training were the norm, along with the basic fighting styles used in the academe, at first it was hard and for weeks my body ached so much I thought about quitting, then I would remind myself of why I was doing this I would not be just another victim of this world so I would pick myself up ignore the pain and get back to work. I think Hiroshi grew to enjoy putting me through the ringer every week.

Over the two years I had changed, I was taller and bigger than all my friends in my age group and the one above it, at first the Hiroshi was worried I had Acromegaly but thankfully after extensive testes it proved false, even though if there was anything genetically wrong with me the original testing for the academe would have shown it.

Hiroshi couldn't show me any chakra techniques he said that it was dangerous and detrimental for children of a certain age group to begin using their chakra they had to wait until I was eight so my pathways would be somewhat more developed.

I was starting the academe today and I was nervous and somewhat self-conscious, I had out grown my clothes quite fast so I was given the hand-me-downs from two years above me and I had become a little self-conscious of how I looked in them, so I was nervous all the way down to the time we entered the building, all of us were going in one big group to register before we were dispersed into different classes, the academe runs six classes simultaneously.

We approached the desk sitting at the centre of the entrance hall,

"Excuse me" said Hiroshi the woman looked up "were here for orientation and class assignments"

And thus began my life as a leaf academe student.


	2. Chapter 2

(I don't own Naruto, forgive any grammar and spelling errors I am Dyslexic and even with spell checker it's difficult for me to see them)

Orientation, it was something that Masato had been hoping for and at the same time dreading, it meant that one chapter of his life, the life of a civilian was over and another life a life of duty and adventure was just begging, and this was the first step.

They were lead down a few corridors each identical to the last with only the pictures that lined the walls differing, Gennin teams and historical figures from Konoha's past glorious and infamous both were depicted, before they were lead into the main auditorium, it was not dissimilar to the university lecturing theatre at university, though it was a cavernous a room that fit all five hundred of the new students with room for more, it had an elevated platform where three men in Chunnin green vests were sitting with crossed arms looking impatient.

Masato was in the last group of students to enter the auditorium and they were late, every one of the students that had entered before them and had to wait were glaring their eyes alive with hate, and as they got to their assigned seats the air seemed to feel heavy with an oppressive aura it was as if they had walked through a graveyard.

It was seconds after Masato had sat down that two small tornadoes of smoke and leaves appeared in front of the three Chunnin it was the Hokage and Danzo, they each gave a speech Danzo focusing on duty and sacrifice for the greater good of the village, and the giving quite the powerful speech on the will of fire and the honor and love of the village along with throwing in some teamwork analogy and bits and pieces that reminded Masato of some of Kennedy's speeches, and after that the groups were split, Masato and the others from the orphanage were split apart, Masato being one of the few sent with the children from the larger well to do Clans, he didn't know them by their Clan emblems but from the few he did know his classes would be a pain in the ass.

There would be little unity amongst the students as Clan allegiances reared its ugly head from the start, Masato was lead with the group to classroom number five, and as they assumed their seats the class split itself almost down the middle, the Hyuuga were all in white robes and cold to anyone not of their little pocket of influence and they took up the left side of the class at by the windows looking over the training grounds, the Uchiha were all in black or blue and kept to their little pocket as well on the right by the wall with the windows overlooking the entrance, leaving everyone else divided between clan loyalties and alliances so old that the documents themselves were dust in the wind.

To say that it was a hostile learning environment would be an understatement Masato himself was in the neutral faction in the middle of the room with a few Inuzuka, Nara and Akimichi. They were all branch members who didn't really care about clan politics seeing as they were so far removed from succession that it would take a major event killing ten to fifteen people for them to even be in the long run for it, and as such, they could be trusted not to drag anyone into a centuries-long blood feud that no one knew who started and nobody cared why.

There were thirty students in a class, and the classes themselves were almost like regular school, but instead of reading writing and arithmetic it emphasised physical education, the first week was almost all callisthenics they wanted to establish a baseline for our physical improvements, something they can measure and improve upon so that when asked they can show off graphs and documentation showing the extent of the students' abilities from term to term,

But that was not all they focused on, in the second week the proper education began, regular subjects that would not be dissimilar to the civilian school where inter-spliced with Ninja teachings that were masked as regular education, where it was revealed more apparently was in science.

History had always been Masato's favourite subject in his previous life and he was looking forward to that within his new world now, and he was not disappointed the first class was the establishment of the elemental nations.

Math though would be his Achilles heel, he never had an affinity for the subject and was annoyed that that weakness had carried over into this life as well, and to add to this indignity he had to go through the language courses again and had his ability to spell called into question all the time.

But physical education was his favourite subject as every student regardless of the clan were taught the academy style, meaning everyone started off at the same point and were expected to excel on their own merits as there Clan styles were only to be used in the academe tournament at the end of every school year and at home.

In the fourth week, they began their first chakra manipulation class.

Masato's class was lead into the training ground, they were told to sit down crossed legged, once they were settled the instruction began, they were told that Chakra was a natural energy that was in all things and that being in a natural environment it would be easier to connect with their Chakra, and were told something about finding their centre but Masato was never one for meditation in his old life but this was different.

Daikoku sensei instructed them to close their eyes relax and look for the energy within themselves, to be honest, Masato felt like a fool but he was so determined to get this that he couldn't relax, he then became acutely aware that his arse was cold and he was as uncomfortable as all hell. Daikoku sensei seemed to feel his excitement because he felt a hand on his head and someone speaking in his ear.

"Relax," said Daikoku sensei "concentrate on my voice" he followed Daikoku sensei instructions to the letter "don't control your breath; simply breathe naturally," he said "Focus on the breath, in and out, in and out, in and out" it was hard for him but somehow slowly the voice of his sensei seemed to ebb away from him, and it was then that he managed to find something or more accurately someone, a thing that was lurking within his own psyche.

(Inside Misato's mind)

It was a bleak landscape that greeted Masato, a vast white sand desert littered with obsidian stone outcroppings and granite gravestones, the sky was a blood red with black clouds and a pale moon.

"what is this place" he whispered to himself "hello" he called "anyone here" but his only response was the echo of his own question reverberating back to him then he felt a gigantic and heavy hand clamp onto his shoulder, the impact itself was enough to force him to his knees and as he craned his neck to see what was holding him he gasped.

"What the hell" he whispered in shock

"What's the matter boy not happy to see me" it was a vast beast of a man with saber-like fangs and a feral almost tiger like in their cold viciousness.

"What are you?"

"oh you poor little fool" the beast smiled "I am you, I am your hate, I am you at your worst and most sadistic "the beast clamped down harder "I am your brutality I am that which has always been with you, that primal spark that civilisation had tried and failed to stamp out" Masato was thrown by the creature as it laughed again.

Masato landed on his back the force of the impact sent him sliding through the sand like he was on the ice before grinding to a halt, he got to his feet his back aching for the impact.

"Why are you here?"

"To see"

"to see what?" the beast didn't respond it only attacked with vicious swipes from his clawed hand growling like a mad lion bear thing forcing Masato to dodge, duck and weave every swipe and kick from the creature and tried to lay in some of his own, but he couldn't keep it up as a blow launched Masato away again, he landed heavily again the wind being driven from his body, he spun around to face his attacker arms up in defence and his eyes closed tightly in anticipation for a blow that never came.

"Good you have some fight in ya boy" it smiled "but will it be enough" then just as suddenly as it arrived the beast was gone, Masato opened his eyes and found himself alone.

He turned to see where the beast had gone only to walk slap bang into a tree and land on his arse quite painfully as his full body weight landed on a gnarled tree root, he was about to curse at the tree but when he something within him told him to move but it was too late, a thick limb came out of nowhere it launched him into another tree which broke when he hit it.

"Ow" he groaned out through what he thought were broken ribs

"Welcome" the voice was oily and uncomfortable to hear "friend"

"Oh crap," he moaned out as he forced himself to his feet.

The thing was grotesquely obese, its large gelatinous form undulated and writhed with a mass consistent with gelatinous viscous waste that was held behind pale pockmarked, pustulated rubberised skin that was sickly white almost optic its eyes were set back behind thick black bags its hair greased and clumped together in filthy dreadlocks its overly large mouth was filled with broken and lopsided and chipped teeth that had large gaps and was an unhealthy deep yellow with green growths, and the whole mass smelled like stale fish mixed with excrement and rotting meat.

When Masato looked on the thing he nearly threw up as its thick trunk like arms were caressing and pawing at its own bulk adding to the unnatural things rippling fat movements

"I am you" it seemed to with its own disgusting pleasure "I am your hedonism, your greed, I am you insatiable hunger for more, I am the voice that says one more won't hurt" it laughed a tittering ugly sound that was a parody a human laugh "I am that part of you that civilisation frowns on I am the part of you that appreciates life in all its flavours" it liked its greasy thick fingers one after the other, it then proceeded to rub its engorged breast causing Masato to retch with disgust

"What do you want?"

"to feel" it giggled again before launching at him with a surprising speed forcing Masato to dodge and dive out of the way from the deceptively fast thing he picked up a rock and bashed the thing in the head with it only to be thrown away again, but this didn't stop Masato as he felt his disgust turn to rage and he attacked the thing with everything he could, he would not allow this unnatural monster to exist, but once again he was thrown away.

"Impressive I see you have the will now let's see if you can face this new challenge"

Suddenly he was alone again the thing had vanished and Masato now stood alone in what appeared to be a convincing replica of Stonehenge with another creature that was sitting on the main stone altar, it was child sized but with large almost gorilla-like arms and purple its eyes opened to reveal empty black holes and it spoke to him in a voice that came from everywhere at once and yet no wear at all.

"I am you," it said "I am your melancholy, I am your depression, I am the voice that tried to end it, I am the one that walked you to the ledge and told you to jump, the one that told you it would be better for them if you were gone"

Masato clenched his fist so tightly that his nails cut into his palms and blood began to flow, all he could feel was hate, this creature had been the thing that had almost killed him the oppressive thoughts that had almost ended him

"What do you want?" he spat

"to know," it said, bit, this time, Masato was ready and he lunged at the creature wrapping his arms around its neck while its large gorilla hands wrapped around his own, he squeezed with all his might to end this thing that had blighted his life for ten years that had almost killed him, then it stopped and thrust its hand into Masato's chest.

"I know you boy" he smiled even as Masato applied as much pressure as he could to the thing "I see you, I feel you, I am you" it smiled "your wrath, your gluttony and your melancholy, I am you," it said again "the worst parts of yourself that you brought with you, the parts that never left you, that you had to overcome if you were going to survive here" Masato let the thing go "the parts of you that would hold you back from your new life here, you had to overcome us to get to this" it opened its hand to reveal a glowing azure jewel "this is what you have sought" it said "this is what you need" it pushed the jewel into Masato's chest and he felt as though warm water had been poured over him easing pains he never knew he had "now leave us behind, the last of your old flaws and live this new life free" it smiled then vanished

(real world)

Masato woke with a start and had never felt so alive, it was as if the greatest of weights had been lifted from him and as he opened his eyes everything seemed sharper and colours seemed to be brighter more real as though he had lived his life in sepia tone and he was only now seeing in colours, as he touched the ground it felt more alive even the grit in his hands seemed to have its own life.

He looked up and saw Daikoku sensei smiled down on him

"congratulations Masato you have taken your first step to the wider world"


End file.
